Protecting student data

Parents raised the alarm when they learned the state Department of Education had provided confidential student data to a nonprofit company called inBloom Inc.

Education Superintendent John White said he would withdraw Louisiana student information from the nonprofit database just two days after he assured Board of Elementary and Secondary Education members that the data was safe and could not be distributed without DOE approval.

White told BESE members that the inBloom Inc. database was only a "garage" for storing information.

"We are storing our data in a database no different from putting a car in parking garage," he said. In an email to The News-Star, White said that "the only student info we are storing in this garage: local student ID, first name, last name, gender, date of birth, ethnicity and race."

It's not clear why the DOE felt the need to "park" confidential student information in a "garage" outside the state. And parents were right to be concerned about privacy and worried that their children's information might someday be shared or sold.

"If they want to tout choice and letting parents decide what's best for the students, then give parents the opportunity to do what's best for their child and opt out of their information being sold," parent April Stockley said.

The inBloom website says it is "dedicated to bringing together the data, content and tools educators need to make personalized learning a reality for every student."

According to the site, inBloom partners with education technology companies, content providers and developers to support the creation of products compatible with infrastructure needed to integrate data, services and applications that work together to support personalized learning.

Parents are worried that if they were not informed of the first agreement, establishing the initial transfer of information with inBloom, the permission to share data might also not be known.

"There are no restrictions on how this data can be used or who it can be shared with, sanctions for improper usage or storage, or mechanism for correcting data that may be erroneous but could potentially be used by employers, credit cards, insurers, schools for admissions purposes and slander, not to mention to the potential for fraud and abuse should inBloom get hacked or compromised," parent and former DOE employee Jason France said.

While the DOE insists that it has protected private student information in this process, parental concerns were heard. The DOE did the right thing to pull back the information.

If in the future DOE feels the need to store confidential student data outside of its system, parents should be informed in writing and given the opportunity to opt out.

The editorials in this column represent the opinions of The News-Star's editorial board, composed of President and Publisher David B. Petty, Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock and community representatives French Smith, Andrew Osakue and Georgiann Potts.

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Protecting student data

Parents raised the alarm when they learned the state Department of Education had provided confidential student data to a nonprofit company called inBloom Inc.Education Superintendent John White said